Memory's Prison
by Aura Spirit
Summary: Everyone has an item they hold precious to them, something that cannot be replaced. If you lost that item, you would find it, wouldn't you? But what if you had lost it, and forgotten you had lost it? Direct sequel to The Heartless Angel.
1. Into the Unknown

**Alright, new story. This one takes place three years after The Heartless Angel, with its established character deaths and three OCs. There will be no more. So without further ado, enjoy.**

Four sets of rapid footsteps echoed around the corridor, two of them stopping momentarily. A heavy grinding was heard, followed by heavy breathing. Then the footsteps started again. Team RWBY slowed up ahead, resting for a few minutes, leaning on the crystal that made up the walls of the corridor. A flame flared in the dark, rippling from the blonde woman's hand. She lifted her night vision goggles and looked at the other three women with her. Two of them lifted their goggles, while the other stared back with amber eyes, her feline ears twitching atop her head. She spoke.

"I'm sorry... I should have scouted that trap. This one's on me."

Ruby stood up, pushing herself away from the wall. A pulse of white travelled down the corridor, momentarily illuminating it. She leant into Blake, embracing her, ignoring the sweat that covered them both.

"Hey, it's not your fault..."

"It is though."

"How can it be? You saw that corridor change right in front of us. This place is always changing. We're still alive, aren't we?"

A crashing sound, followed by a guttural snarl caught their attention. Weiss spoke up.

"We need to keep running. That thing just keeps absorbing our attacks."

She pulled her goggles back on and started to walk ahead. Ruby did the same, and Yang extinguished the flame as she replaced her goggles. A roar spurred them to begin running again, and they did, Blake leading them through the darkened tunnel while pulling the pin from a flash grenade and hurling it down the corridor behind her, facing away as it exploded and grinning when she heard a startled, pained yelp.

The Team came upon another door, Yang stepping forward and cracking her knuckles before punching the door. She managed two punches before Weiss stopped her and cast a quick glyph. The crystal slab slid apart, the two halves sliding into the walls. They ran into the room behind, Weiss closing the door again before destroying the glyph with a Dust-enhanced slash from Myrtenaster. While Ruby and Yang rested, Blake took a small device from a pouch in her armour and began talking into it. Weiss backed away from the door as the creature began clawing at the other side, the sound of claws on crystal making her cringe. She turned to Yang.

"Should we set up a drone?"

"A Bumblebee? Nah, save the ammo and fuel. We might find something we can actually kill up ahead."

The answer apparently satisfied Weiss, who shrugged before inspecting the huge machine that lay across from the door, running a hand over the metal doors, peering into the vials on the outside of the chassis. The group turned, staring at the door as a wicked claw punctured it, an eye staring through the hole, followed by a roar. Yang stood up, pulling a metallic orb from her bandolier and throwing it into the air, the drone unfolding, taking flight and aiming its weapon at the door.

"On second thoughts, they may be more useful now."

She launched two more, the black and yellow colours of the Bumblebee drones standing out against the pale blue crystals. Another white pulse lit the room before vanishing down the corridor. Ruby stood up, swinging Crescent Rose and embedding the blade in the ground and training the high-calibre rifle on the door. Lightning arced between the barrel and the blade. Weiss levelled her sabre at the door, the blade glowing faintly. Another pulse travelled through the crystal, the heiress' pallid eyes tracing it. She frowned.

"They're getting more frequent."

Blake wound the Gambol Shroud's ribbon around her right arm and took the sheath in her left. She began to cycle the gunblade around as the hole in the door got wider, shards of crystal scattering across the floor as the creature on the other side tore into it. The Bumblebee drones began cycling their weapons, converging on the laser that Yang was shining on the creature. The small robots opened fire, a hail of energy pellets causing the creature to shriek and back away. Seconds later, several heavy footsteps preceded its entrance to the room, the creature using its bulk to slam the door open. The drones opened fire again, focussing on its eyes as directed by Yang. Ruby opened fire, lightning-infused bullets causing the beast to shudder. It roared, pulling itself into the chamber and using its tail to force Ruby to move. Blake ghosted out of the way of an attack, pale fire spreading down her blade and amputating the arm that destroyed her decoy. By the time she landed, it was already growing back.

Weiss was working on boxing it in and forcing it out. Two circles formed a wedge, preventing it from advancing while a third slammed into its head, stunning it. She pushed it back, straining with the effort it took.

"I can hold it for a while! Get those doors open!"

Yang moved to the doors, running her hands over them, looking for an access panel. She moved to the frame, tapping at it, before smiling and ripping a panel off. A small dish lay inside, two metal rods pointed into it.

"It runs on Dust! Give me some red, it's the most energetic!"

"You'll have to come and get it, just don't distract me too much while you search me."

Cracking another grin, she jogged to Weiss, quickly looking over the vials that Weiss kept slung across the small of her back. She opened a pouch and pulled out a vial of red Dust, slapping Weiss lightly on the rear and watching her bite her lip in a mix of anger and joy before running back over to the machine. She carefully emptied the contents of the vial into the dish, watching as the rods absorbed it. The crystal lit up, a constant red glow as the Dust powered the machine. The doors opened, a foot of solid, unidentifiable metal moving as if it weighed nothing as Weiss's glyphs shattered.

"Run! Into the machine!"

Yang launched flares at the creature, the explosives forcing it to move back. It swatted the Bumblebee drones out of the air, roaring as the doors ground shut.

-Beacon Academy, Ozpin's Office-

Ozpin sat with his eyes closed, listening to the endless clockworks of his office while Oobleck stood behind him. He was waiting with a vexed expression on his face, twitching nervously. He had good reason to be nervous. They both had.

Ozpin raised his head and opened his eyes as he heard a knock on his door. He pressed the button on his desk, the door unlocking to allow access to the Team waiting to enter. Jaune walked in first. He'd gotten taller over the years, and also bulked up as a result of Beacon's brutal training regimes. His face was still young, but a scar starting above his left brow and ending below his right eye told anyone that he had been through more than his face suggested.

Behind him, Pyrrha followed, carrying herself with a grace that belied her prowess in combat. She bore no scars, her skill with her shield having served her well over the years.

Nora skipped into the room next, apparently having not matured much in her time at Beacon. She was humming under her breath, swinging her arms heavily; lugging Maghnild around the battlefield demanded strength.

Ren filed in after her. He was mostly unchanged, except for a strange glow to his eyes. He had excelled in the use of Aura, and it changed him, his focus manifesting as the glow in his eyes, a power he combined with martial arts to confound his foes and incapacitate them in a scant few blows.

Team JNPR fell in in front of the desk, waiting for Ozpin to speak. Jaune raised an eyebrow at Oobleck, curious as to what may have caused him to look so nervous. Ozpin sipped from his coffee mug before talking.

"Thank you for taking time from your studies to talk. I believe you four will find the subject as high-priority as me. Now, you were quite close to Team RWBY, weren't you?"

"They're our best friends. Great fighters too." Jaune said.

"Good. Perhaps you'd like to tell me what you know about each of them?"

Jaune looked to his Team, who just shrugged. He began talking.

"Well, Ruby's their leader. She came to Beacon two years early, and uses a scythe with her speed Semblance. She improved it a lot since she built it, made it lighter and stronger. She uses a Bolt Drive with it. She came up with her own signature scythe attack, Radiant Bloom, I think."

"Good. And Weiss, Pyrrha?"

"She uses Dust with a rapier to create glyphs. She specialises in all forms of Dust manipulation. She also found a way suspend a target in time, and she taught the medical service how to do it to save lives."

"Alright. Nora, what about Blake?"

"She used to be part of the White Fang, but then she ran away, came to Beacon. She's sneaky, likes to creep around like a ninja." Nora's expression momentarily became grim. "She was possessed a few years ago, but ended up with awesome fiery powers!"

"Close enough. And Yang, Ren?"

"She's a mechanic. Ruby's sister. She absorbs energy from hits she takes to power up. She developed her own personal drones with Blake, as well as extremely durable data recorders. She's more intelligent than people give her credit for."

Ozpin smiled.

"It seems you are indeed very close to them. Very well, I will not beat around the bush any longer. I've called you up here because Team RWBY has not returned from their mission given to them that was meant to end two weeks ago. It was a routine extermination of Grimm in the eastern forest. Oobleck, if you please."

Oobleck stepped forward, unrolling a map of the eastern forest on the desk.

"This was the area where a subterranean Grimm nest was found. Mostly Creeps and Taijitu, nothing that Team RWBY couldn't handle. After a few days of eradicating Grimm on the surface, they went into the caves. Now, this would have been fine, except they found a cavern that should not have been there, as it was not on the maps. Since they were fourth-year students, I gave them permission to explore. I lost communication soon after, as well as the visual feed from their body cams." He stopped and took a steadying breath. "They still have not emerged. What's worse, seismometers have been recording tremors. That forest is in the dead centre of a tectonic plate. If it's not earthquakes, we have no idea what could be causing those tremors. Worst of all, they could be trapped down there."

"What do you want us to do?" Ren questioned.

"Oobleck wants you to investigate the cave, look for signs as to where Team RWBY could be and, should the situation have become hopeless, find their bodies for a proper burial."

The room fell silent, save for the noise of grinding gears. Ozpin gave JNPR a little smile.

"I don't need an answer now. Go back to your courses. It's still early in the day. Give me an answer by the end of the week. Dismissed."

Team JNPR were headed to the arena, walking across the campus in anxious silence. Each of them carried a bag.

"What d'you think could've happened to RWBY?" Jaune asked, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"I can't imagine. I don't want to." Was the reply from Pyrrha. Jaune put an arm around her, pulling her close.

"Here. This should take your mind off things."

They reached the arena, the flat expanse empty since Jaune had booked it out for the next few hours. The last thing they wanted was some unfortunate First-Year to catch the brunt of one of their attacks. They walked in as one of the caretakers walked out, having finished clearing away the training apparatus left by the last users. He nodded at Jaune.

"Four hours, then you have to be out."

"Sure."

The caretaker walked away. Team JNPR stepped into the individual changing room, each member removing their uniform and replacing it with their combat gear, bracers and pauldrons taking the place of blazers and shirts. They stepped into the arena, splitting apart to face off against their partners. Jaune cocked his head at Pyrrha, practically radiating confidence.

"Maybe this will be the day I beat you."

"Not today, Jaune. You're fighting Ren this time."

The dark-haired boy looked to Nora for confirmation before shrugging. He and Pyrrha swapped places, Nora bouncing at the prospect of a different opponent, twisting Maghnild in her grip. She holstered it and sat in the stands with Pyrrha, waiting for the match to begin.

Jaune looked a lot less confident, and he entered his defensive stance; shield up, sword pointed forward. He had saved up his money and bought a Blaze Drive that was installed in his shield. The metal now looked volcanic, vicious heat wreathing the front face while the back remained cool.

Ren performed a short kata, the edges of StormFlower taking on a pinkish hue when he drew them, the glow in his eyes intensifying. Pyrrha called out from the stands.

"The match ends when one of you can no longer fight! Go!"

Both men carefully circled around each other, neither of them willing to make the first move. Ren retracted StormFlower, the twin pistols vanishing into his sleeves. He took on a meditative pose, bringing his hands over his chest and standing on just one leg, the other resting against his knee. Jaune frowned. He knew that Ren would counter if he attacked, and Ren's counters were nigh-unavoidable. Piecing together a quick strategy, Jaune dashed forward for a quick slash before crouching and lowering his shield to block the kick aimed to dislocate his knee. He hopped as it connected, a pink flash launching him across the arena; the heat of the shield taking a small amount of Ren's Aura to block. Jaune stood up, seeking to attack again, but he was forced to dodge a hail of bullets from StormFlower, blocking some and allowing his Aura to absorb the others. He thrust his shield forward, trying to stagger Ren, but he merely flipped backwards and unleashed another volley of bullets in mid-air. Jaune ignored them, instead charging forward to slash at Ren's torso. The successful hit cleaved a large amount of Ren's Aura away, yet he showed no signs of tiredness. Instead, he caught Jaune's downward swing in the curves of his blade and twisted, disarming the blonde man before closing in with a flurry of kicks and punches, Jaune's Aura plummeting. He found himself flat out, groaning with pain. It had taken less than a minute for the fight to end. Ren bowed as Jaune pulled himself into the stands and sat down heavily.

"Ren." He called out. "Will you judge their match?"

"Of course."

Nora jumped into the arena, Maghnild unfolding in her arms into its hammer form. Pyrrha slid Akoúo into place and took aim with Miló.

"Begin."

An explosion rocked the floor as Nora grenade jumped into the air, avoiding Pyrrha's bullets before bringing the hammer down with an exuberant "Smash!"

Pyrrha braced herself behind Akoúo, the force of the hit forcing her onto one knee but allowing her to get close, close enough to slash at Nora before she could recover. She took the full force of the first slash and almost avoided the second, the tip glancing off her Aura. Nora was back into her effective range, and swung Maghnild again, kicking up a cloud of dust with several downward swings. Pyrrha shielding her eyes, using her Semblance to detect repulsion between her shield and Maghnild. She felt it to her left, and threw Akoúo, the clang of impact reverberating around the arena. She dived out of its way as it came back to her far too fast- Nora had hit it back. It stuck in the ground, and Pyrrha was quick to recover it. She batted back a grenade, wincing as it exploded on contact with Miló and drove her back. She repelled the next one, suspending it before her, unseen by Nora due to the dust cloud. She suspended four more grenades before flinging them back to their sender, the explosions launching Nora into the air. Pyrrha aimed carefully and threw Miló, grinning as the spear pinned Nora to the wall by her skirt. She couldn't move, and pouted at Pyrrha.

"That wasn't fair!"

She glared at Ren when he raised his hand to designate Pyrrha as the winner. With a quick magnetic pull, the spear removed itself from the wall in a shower of dust and returned to its owner's hand, leaving Nora to free fall to the ground, landing hard on her back. Ren helped her up.

"Nice landing strategy."

"Re~en..."

Later on, after their four hours had expired, Team JNPR was in its dorm, the four members sat in tense silence, each on their own bed, save for Nora, who was leaning against Ren. Jaune decided to break the silence.

"Like it or not, we need to talk about Team RWBY. Like, what could have happened. We already know that they're somewhere underground, otherwise they'd have called in by now. There could also be Grimm where they last were. What else?"

"They could be trapped by rubble. Oobleck mentioned seismic activity." Ren suggested.

"A few rocks probably wouldn't stop Yang, though." Pyrrha objected. "She would quite literally punch through them to escape."

Silence.

"What if they found something down there?" Jaune asked. "Maybe they just want to keep it secret."

"Why would they? What could possibly be so valuable that a child prodigy, heiress, former White Fang zealot and brawler all felt the need to stay with it? That's not possible." Pyrrha argued again.

"I don't like this. Something about this whole thing just stinks, like something awful is going to happen. I think there's one thing we can agree on, though."

"What's that?"

"We're sure as hell going to help."

 **Let me know what you think about this story via review or PM, and I'll do my best to answer any questions.**

 **Aura, out.**


	2. Dispatch

**Second chapter, let's go.**

Inside a well-lit room, hidden away within a White Fang compound, Cinder Fall was sat with a needle and thread, carefully repairing her combat gear after another successful assassination. Clearly, the target was more skilled than she had been led to believe, as they had sensed her coming and prepared accordingly. Cinder still found a way to scald the inside of her target's head, causing their skull to explode in quite a spectacular shower of blood and bone. As a result of her efforts, someone had tried to stab her and her dress was covered in blood.  
She was halfway through repairing the tear when Emerald put her head around the door. Cinder rolled her eyes.  
"Cinder?"  
"Emerald. Didn't I tell you that I am not to be disturbed?"  
"I know but, do you remember Team RWBY, at Beacon?"  
"I do, yes. What of them?"  
"Apparently, they've gone missing, presumed dead."  
"Really now. And your point is?"  
"Vale is now down a Team. If you attacked now, it may be-"  
"Emerald." Cinder said, carefully laying her dress to one side while she stood and crossed the room. "One Team missing does not mean an easy victory. I have not lied, murdered and framed my way into the upper echelon of the White Fang just to blow their trust on a stupid pre-emptive attack. No, we will not attack. We will wait until Adam sets up the final device, _then_ I will deem them defenceless enough to take over with minimal casualties."  
Emerald swallowed nervously. Cinder continued.  
"Three years ago, Vulkoss cause a lot of damage to the eastern side of Vale, and inadvertently destroyed one of our devices. I'm not risking a disaster over a missing Team. Leave."  
Emerald left the room. Cinder picked up her dress again, carefully pushing the needle back through the fabric, making sure each stitch was perfect, and that Dust distribution was perfect.  
 _Soon. Everything will be perfect.  
_  
-Beacon-

Jaune was awoken by his Scroll pinging and lighting up. Similar sounds rang all around the dorm, from each of his teammates' Scrolls, rousing each of them. One by one, they checked the screens, reading the message that appeared.

 _ **JNPR: Mission approved. Report to my office in one hour for details.  
**_  
Yawning, Jaune checked the time. Seven in the morning, a full half-hour before his alarm usually went off. Ozpin wanted them there early. Groaning, he pulled himself out of bed and into the shower, the warm water doing little to rouse him further. After dressing, he sat and waited on his bed while his teammates also got ready. Forty minutes later, when all four of them were washed and dressed, Jaune scanned his Scroll to unlock the door and they set off towards Ozpin's office, the sound of other Teams preparing for the day drifting from the doors lining the corridor. Stepping outside of the dorm building, they headed to the central tower, waiting for the elevator to arrive. Moments later, they were carried up to the top of the tower, the mechanism barely making a sound until the brakes clicked into place. The doors opened, Jaune stepping out first to ring the bell, requesting entry to Ozpin's office. By the time Pyrrha had stepped out of the elevator behind Nora and Ren, the office door had opened, Ozpin stood behind his desk with Oobleck.  
"Team JNPR, welcome. Thank you for your quick decision. Every hour is precious to us, and even more precious to Team RWBY, wherever they may be. Come closer."  
He beckoned them over to his desk, the gears inside clicking gently. A map was spread across the desk, showing a detailed layout of the eastern forest area, as well as the caves beneath. A large number of markers had been placed on it, as well as several rings.  
"This green marker shows where Team RWBY was deployed. The blue markers show their position every ten minutes after the mission's initiation." He pointed to the long stream of blue markers that looped across the surface map in a spiral pattern and descended into the caves. "These orange markers show where they stopped each night. The red is where they were last logged before contact was lost."  
The red marker was not inside any of the mapped tunnels, and instead lay in a blank area of the map.  
"I called in Team CFVY to do some recon for us. The rings on the map show the concentration of Grimm in Grimm sighted in an hour. As you can see, they've already made a resurgence. CFVY reported that there were mostly Creeps and Taijitu on the surface, so we can assume that the caves are also rife with these Grimm species."  
Jaune studied the map. He pointed to the red marker.  
"That isn't in any tunnels. How do we find it?"  
"That's the hard part. Now clearly, Team RWBY found an unmapped tunnel and were given permission to investigate. Some distance in, we lost contact. This blue marker was the last location recorded prior to the loss of contact, so you should focus your search there. Put simply, you will be dropped off at the entrance to the cave, and you will locate the tunnel where Team RWBY went missing. You will then mark the location of the tunnel before heading in, and drop beacons to guide you out. Is that clear?"  
Team JNPR nodded.  
"Excellent. There's a Bullhead loaded with all the gear you will need. Landing platform four. Dismissed."  
As JNPR left the room, Ooblock turned to Ozpin.  
"Have we informed the parents? Relatives?"  
"We have, except for Blake. For all our research, we couldn't find any relatives."  
"Not even in Menagerie?"  
"No. Yang's father, Taiyang, lives on Patch, and Weiss' family manor is somewhere on Mantle. With Blake, it's almost like they vanished."  
"They could have been victims of the Faunus Rights Movement."  
"Indeed. In any case, if the worst comes to pass, and Blake is found dead, we need someone to send her belongings to."  
"Should I search their room? We have repeatedly told anyone enrolling here that Hunters and Huntresses often live woefully short lives. There should be a will somewhere. Blake seems like a sensible girl."  
Ozpin considered the idea for a moment.  
"Alright. You can search their room, but keep it secret. We don't want more rumours spreading on top of those that have doubtlessly done so already."  
Oobleck nodded and jogged away, the elevator carrying him down to ground level. He checked his watch. Nine o' clock.  
 _Perfect. Breakfast is only just being served. The corridors will be empty.  
_ He crossed the campus in a brisk walk, taking care to give the mess hall a wide margin. He stepped into the bunkhouse, reading the plaques on each door, soon finding the one that read "RWBY". He placed his Scroll on the sensor, the electronic locks disengaging. He pushed the door open, quickly closing it behind him before someone saw him.  
The room was tidy, the beds made and nothing cluttering the floor. One of the beds was strung up with ropes, and looked extremely haphazard. The sink in the bathroom was lined with various brands of make-up and care products, many of them carrying the Schnee brand. Ignoring them, Oobleck moved to the desk near the window and removed the top left drawer, shifting the various books and papers that lay inside. Finding nothing of use, he replaced it and moved to the next, rifling through the electronic components and wires inside. The next drawer was painted red, and contained several canisters and bullet shells, as well as some vials of Dust. Several files and pieces of emery cloth were scattered about the drawer as well, clearly for use in maintaining the wicked edge that Crescent Rose bore. Oobleck spotted a small leather bound book at the back of the draw, and he retrieved it and read the first page.  
 _"The Last Will and Testament of Ruby Rose". Perfect.  
_ Pocketing the small book, he moved to the right side of the desk and began searching those drawers. He found nothing in the first, just chargers and other cables. The second draw had been painted yellow. Strips of ammo lay inside, as well as a folded piece of lined paper, simply titled "Yang Xiao Long's Will". Oobleck pocketed and continued his search. He found nothing in the remaining draws, and turned his attention to the bookshelf, running his finger along the spines of the many books resting there.  
 _Old Blood... Moonfall... Ninjas of Love...  
_ He soon found a blank spine, and pulled it out. The front of the hardback was engraved with Blake's emblem. It appeared to be a diary, with her will written at the very front. He did not pry and placed it on the desk while he searched for Weiss' will. He found it on the shelf below, underneath where Blake's had been; it too was at the front of her diary. He cast one look around the room, searching for anything that could be of use, but found nothing. Oobleck left the room as he found it, sans the wills he had found. He carried them all the way back to Ozpin, dutifully avoiding crowded areas and groups of students so they did not ask questions. Upon reaching the headmaster's clockwork office, he carefully placed the books and paper on the desk.  
"They weren't too hard to find, as expected."  
Ozpin read the first few lines of each will, looking over the signatures at the bottom of each one. He sighed.  
"My only hope now is that we will not have to use these documents. Oobleck, I believe you have a flight to catch."

-Eastern Forest-

In a Bullhead flying over the eastern forest, Jaune was struggling to keep his breakfast down. He had always hated flying, the altitude making him feel unbalanced. The way the floor constantly shifted inside the Bullhead didn't help either as the craft navigated around thermals and strong gusts. When the bay doors opened as the craft drew close to the ground, Jaune was the first out, glad to be back on terra firma. The rest of his Team landed behind him, eyes scanning the woods around them. Pyrrha shot into the undergrowth, a howl followed by a small cloud of black mist heralding the death of a Beowolf. The Bullhead touched down, the engines shutting down, the only noise coming from the cold autumn winds whistling through the branches. Oobleck stepped from the craft.  
"This clearing will be our camp. We will return here every night if possible to rest and restock. We have enough supplies to last three weeks out here. Clear out the surrounding area of Grimm, and start setting up motion sensors."  
Ren and Nora disappeared into the bushes, leaving Jaune and Pyrrha to set up the motion sensors. Jaune lifted one of the large tripods from the hold, setting it up near the edge of the clearing before returning for another. Pyrrha did the same, and soon eight sensors had been placed in a ring around the camp. Nora and Ren returned soon after, holding their arms up as they emerged so as not to get shot by Pyrrha who was keeping a close eye on the sensors. Oobleck waved the four of them over. He had a map rolled out on the floor of the hold. He motioned for them to sit.  
"Now then, we are here." He pointed to a clearing in the map. "The cave entrance is over here." He pointed to a location south of the clearing. "You all should have a digital version of the tunnels on your Scrolls. We start the search right now. Remember, should you find the unknown passage, mark it and we will explore it when we have a full day to do so. Be back here by 21:00. Dismissed."  
He rolled up the map and began to set up various other devices around the camp. Shrugging, Jaune led his into the trees and south, dry twigs and leaves crunching underfoot. Ten minutes passed without incident, the cave entrance appearing in a sudden dip in the landscape, the browning earth interrupted by jutting rocks and sudden cracks. A small amount of dust was scattered across the blanket of leaves, the grey powder standing out against the brazen orange of the fallen leaves. Pyrrha frowned.  
"These cracks have opened recently. The wind hasn't carried the dust away yet. Ren? What do you make of this?"  
The dark-haired boy knelt by one of the nearer cracks, running his hand along the inside of it.  
"These cracks opened just yesterday."  
Pyrrha's eyes widened.  
"There was a spike is seismic activity yesterday!"  
Donning a pair of night vision goggles, Pyrrha made her way into the cave, Nora following close behind. Jaune turned to Ren.  
"Was it an earthquake?"  
"It's like the professor said. We're in the middle of a tectonic plate. We can't get earthquakes here."  
Ren pulls his own goggles over his eyes and headed inside, leaving Jaune to do the same. Nora and Pyrrha were waiting inside, the former staring at her Scroll.  
"There are loads of tunnels, but only 5 around the marker. We've got ten hours."  
Following the arrow on her map, Nora disappeared Ito the darkness. Ren shrugged.  
"The marker is about half a kilometre below us. We need to make our way down. Nora and I will clear out the Grimm in this direction."  
Jaune and Pyrrha left in the other, the tunnels branching off even further up ahead.  
"Well, looks like we're splitting up too." She embraced Jaune, kissing him on the cheek and placing her hand there. "Take care of yourself down there."  
Jaune placed his hand over hers.  
"You too."  
They started down their chosen paths, weapons drawn and shields raised.

***

As Jaune walked through the darkness, he stole a glance at his Scroll. The small pointer on the map showed that he had to go almost half a kilometre down to be on the same level as Team RWBY's final marker. Half a kilometre of dangerous, possibly Grimm-infested caves. He sighed. He hated the Grimm. He wasn't entirely sure why he had special hatred for them, on top of the fact that they were living embodiments of negativity. Maybe it was the fact that a supernatural being calling itself Nova had revived an Ancient Grimm named Vulkoss to lay waste to Remnant. But then, that would be selfish. He shouldn't hate Grimm more because he came face-to-face, or rather, face-to-enormous-foot with the creature. The entirety of Remnant was at risk, and it was the timely use of the execution superweapon Warp Star that had finally ended its existence, where the military might of Atlas had failed. Yet, Jaune still found himself repulsed by Grimm where other Hunters and Huntresses would regard them as pests to be exterminated. He felt that he would never know the exact reason why.  
Shaking his head to clear his mind, Jaune focused on the tunnel ahead; he could see a narrow passage up ahead, and felt a familiar repulsion. There were Grimm nearby. He unsheathed his sword, his shield extending on his arm. He turned into the passage, kicking off the wall to pick up speed. There was an intense concentration of darkness in the tunnel, the shadows curling around the walls. Three Beowolves were squatting in the dark, their red facial markings glowing like fire in the dark. Similar red lines festered in the dark, new Grimm waiting to take form. Waiting no longer, Jaune launched himself forward and beheaded the nearest Beowolf. Before the others could counter, he skewered one and dismembered the other. Wasting little time, as the redness in the shadows was already growing, he channeled his Aura, a white flash dispelling the darkness. Giving the cavern the once-over, ensuring no darkness remained, he left and carried on down the tunnel.

***

Pyrrha had been fine, walking down her tunnel, when she found herself with a small dilemma. She hadn't been prepared for the chasm currently blocking her path. Daylight streamed in from above; clearly, some of the tremors were powerful enough to split the earth in two. Across the chasm was the tunnel she was following. Below was another tunnel. She knew that the crack was too wide for her to jump and reach her tunnel, so she decided to improvise. Taking a running leap, she caught the edge of the tunnel below and pulled herself up, the pointer on her Scroll readjusting itself. She saw another tunnel below, and decided to get even closer to her objective. She checked her map, ensuring that the tunnel below was the correct one, before she jumped again, landing and rolling inside the tunnel. She stood, brushed herself off and continued walking, her pointer winding through the tunnels as she walked.  
A few hours later, her foot caught something metal in the darkness, sending it bouncing down the tunnel. She quickly caught up to it and lifted it off the ground, inspecting the device. She shone a torch at it and lifted her goggles. The device was a small, metallic disk, painted in four different colours with a lens and several slots on top of it, along with 3 buttons, one of which was blinking green. She pressed it, almost dropping it when a voice rung out in the darkness.  
"Data log from Ruby, Team RWBY leader.  
We found an unmapped passage down in the caves in the eastern forest. We have gotten permission from our operator, Professor Oobleck, and are about to investigate. Since we don't know what's down there, we're leaving these data recorders behind. A trail of breadcrumbs. So, if you're hearing this, clearly something's wrong, so, heh, come and find us!"  
The recording ended, and Pyrrha shone her torch around the tunnel she was in. A small distance from the ground was a hole tall enough to stand in. A thin vein of glowing red crystal disappeared into the tunnel. Pyrrha pulled out her Scroll and tapped the screen, placing a marker on the map before opening a voice link to the rest of JNPR.  
"I found the tunnel, as well as a data recorder. We may want to restock first, Team RWBY seemed to think they may have gotten lost in there."

 **And there you have it. Please leave any constructive criticism in the Reviews, it means I can improve things.**

 **Aura, out.**


	3. Descent

Team JNPR and Oobleck were all gathered around the data recorder that Pyrrha had found. The device lay on the floor of the Bullhead. It was now dark outside, as it had taken Pyrrha far longer to return to the surface than it took her to leap between tunnels. Oobleck caught her attention.

"Pyrrha, you said there was a recording on it?"

"There is."

She reached down, pressing the button again, Ruby's voice crackling from the small speakers. Oobleck listened intently, idly scratching his chin as he did so.

"It would seem that Ruby knew there was a distinct possibility that she and her Team could get lost down there. That's fine, because it's common sense to leave a trail when exploring an unmapped area. A trail of breadcrumbs, like she said."

He took the device, pressing some of the buttons. A small V formed above the lens. Jaune looked at it in confusion.

"What is that?"

"A tracking computer. My guess is that it can see other data loggers inside the V."

He angled it towards the cave, nothing showing up on the display.

"Clearly, we're too far away to get a reading. I will accompany you into the caves tomorrow where we will locate and listen to any remaining devices. Get some rest. I will take the first watch."

The professor sat down behind a bank of screens, a mass of circles showing the radius of each motion sensor. The Team dispersed, collecting a roll-mat and sleeping bag and unrolling them inside the Bullhead, settling down for the night, only the steady beeping of the sensors audible in the night.

Early the next morning, Team JNPR, along with Oobleck, were gathered outside the cave entrance. Each Hunter carried a backpack containing first air kits, food, water, enough provisions for 3 days and other essentials such as batteries, torches and extra magazines in the cases of Nora, Ren and Pyrrha. Instead of ammo of his own, Jaune carried many vials of different colours of Dust- a few months ago, Yang had taught him how to make a small shrapnel grenade using a large bullet casing and some red Dust, and he had several of the makeshift devices strapped to his legs, ready to throw at a moment's notice. Pyrrha carried Team RWBY's recon module, and stepped into the cave, motioning for the others to follow.

"At some point, we'll have to jump across a chasm. Just a heads-up."

Jaune swallowed nervously, Nora noticing his discomfort and grinning.

"Come on, Jaune, it'll be fun! I can launch you across!"

"Thanks, but, ah, I think I'll be fine."

Oobleck brought up the rear, following JNPR into the cave. Walking in complete darkness, none of the Hunters decided to try and make small talk, each of them instead listening to the sounds inside the cave that weren't their breathing or footsteps. Far below them, almost imperceptible, was a distant rumbling, intermittent, but there. The noise grew louder when they reached the edge of the chasm, Pyrrha calling for the group to stop.

"We need to jump to that tunnel there." She pointed it out. "From there, we can jump to the tunnels below, all the way down the chasm."

She backed off slightly before taking a running jump, crossing the chasm and landing, kicking up a small cloud of dust. She then took another running leap, landing below where the rest of the group was stood.

Shrugging, Ren leapt across, following the path set by Pyrrha. Nora looked at Jaune, who had paled and was taking his bag from his shoulders, propping it against the wall.

"You sure you can make it?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, it's not that far. Totally fine, done it all be-"

He was cut off when Nora swung Magnhild at him, the face of the mighty hammer connecting with Jaune's back and sending him soaring across the cavern with a high-pitched scream and white flash. He landed face first in the tunnel, glowing slightly as his Aura blocked damage. He stood up shakily.

"What was that for?"

"Haha! Fore!" Was the jubilant reply. "Now jump to the next tunnel, or do I have to motivate you again?"

Jaune ran and jumped without hesitation. Nora grinned and picked up his forgotten bag, slinging it around her shoulders before making her first jump, closely followed by Ren. Oobleck followed when they were clear of the tunnels. Reunited, Pyrrha led them down the tunnels that she had followed, the hours passing slowly in the darkness. The spartan kept a close eye on the walls, searching for the narrow opening with the flecks of crimson crystal. When she eventually spotted it, she stopped, the group stacking up behind her.

"Up there. I guess that's where they went."

She jumped up and grabbed the ledge; pulling herself up, she quickly realised that not only did the tunnel lead deeper underground, but that the red crystal followed it all the way. She frowned, relaying the information back to the group.

"It leads further underground. Professor, should we go down there?"

"By all means. Don't forget to scan for the other recon modules left by Team RWBY. I feel they may be useful in piecing together what happened here."

The rest of JNPR watched as Pyrrha disappeared into the tunnel. Following one by one, the group navigated the unmapped caverns, pulses from Oobleck's Scroll mapping it as they went. They walked for about an hour, stopping momentarily to rest and eat before continuing. Half an hour after that, the cave opened up abruptly up ahead, becoming a large cavern.

The vein of crystal in the tunnel had run along the floor, and continued to do so into the cavern. It spread out, forming a large sigil in the ground before converging into a single, thicker vein. The ceiling was certainly not natural, as it was sculpted into arches with small crystal orbs hanging from chains. Ren focused, channeling his Aura and shooting a small sphere of energy from the tip of his finger. It hit the orb, but nothing happened. He frowned. The rumbling sounds were much louder, and there were distinct beats, very regular, and seemingly unending. The recon module Pyrrha was carrying lit up suddenly, and a small shaft of light shone from the opposite end of the cavern. She ran over to it, picking it up as the rest caught up. She pressed the button.

"Message from Weiss, Team RWBY Mage,

This place is strange. Well, that would be a massive understatement. This place is impossible. It shouldn't exist. There is no way that any structure like this could exist, even with our technology and understanding of Dust. The noises down here sound like massive gears, constantly grinding. For what purpose, I don't know. Where these gears are, I don't know that either. What we do know, though, is that there are Grimm down there. We can hear them, and my sensor glyphs can detect them. So, as per mission parameters, we will be exterminating the Grimm below. Again, these recon modules can track each other, so if you're hearing this, something's clearly gone horribly wrong. Try to find us as soon as you can if that's the case."

The recording ended, leaving the silence to be filled by the sound of gears. Oobleck looked towards the back of the room, approaching the machinery there. It consisted of several large cranks and pulleys, what appeared to be an exhaust and a heat sink. A large metal platform rested before the machine, held in place by heavy clamps. Chains were attached to each corner, each of which were attached to a pulley. A perfectly spherical crystal was embedded in the centre of the platform. Oobleck turned away, crossing the cavern and taking a picture of the sigil in the floor and the machine before stepping onto it and turning to JNPR.

"Alright. Clearly, the only way is down. Step on."

JNPR complied, and Oobleck turned to the sphere of crystal. He placed a hand on it, allowing his Aura to flow into it. Olive-green energy filled the sphere, and the machine sputtered into life, the platform shuddering before dropping quickly into the abyss. The group was nearly blinded when they touched down, as there was bright light illuminating the area, radiating from the abundant crystals in the now-sculpted walls; most were white giving off clean light and were placed at regular intervals, whereas the continuous veins were a deep crimson. Pyrrha held up the recon module, angling it around the current set of tunnels before angling it downwards.

"I'm getting a faint hint from about fifty metres below us, in that direction."

She pointed to the ground. Nora raised her hammer but was immediately stopped by Ren.

"We don't know what's down there. We can't risk destroying this place. Besides..." He fired a few rounds into the wall, the sudden reports causing Jaune to flinch. "These bricks have been infused with Dust. They're almost indestructible."

Nora poured as Pyrrha inspected the corridors up ahead. They split off in two directions.

"We can't risk losing each other down here. We need to go together."

She began to follow the left corridor before Jaune stopped her.

"Wait! We need a way back. I have an idea."

He took one of the bullet case grenades from his leg and unscrewed the cap, pouring the red Dust into his hand and igniting it before channelling the energy into a beam. He aimed it at the floor, quickly walking to where Pyrrha was and rounding the corner, leaving a scorched trail behind him. The beam cut off and Jaune blew on his fingers, shaking them to be rid of the residual heat. Pyrrha smiled.

"Nice, if we can't damage the bricks, mark them. Looks like Weiss has brushed off on you."

Jaune laughed it off, scratching the back of his head nervously and flushing slightly. Pyrrha stepped in front of him, walking down the corridor as the blonde loosened the cap on another grenade. As he prepared to mark their path again, Nora spoke up.

"Jaune, isn't your shield hot enough to mark the bricks? Explosions can come in handy!"

"I guess so?"

He took hold of his shield, keeping it folded and dragging it along the ground. Sure enough, a sooty trail formed as he dragged it, the heat produced by the Blaze Disc intense enough to leave a carbon powder behind.

The group continued to navigate the corridors until Pyrrha turned a corner and saw an elevator identical to the one in the cavern. Stepping onto it, she inspected the sphere while everyone caught up. She then placed her hand on it, the sphere taking on a red-pink glow. The machinery started, carrying the group downwards. Pyrrha inspected the recon module.

"Amazing, these things go down fifty metres at a time. We're on the same level as the next module now!"

Pyrrha was first off the platform, rounding the single right turn ahead of them and stopping.

"Huh? There's no other way?"

Before them lay another elevator, except that this time the platform was already extended. It would take them upwards to the level above. Pyrrha began running her hands over the walls, searching for secret switches. She stepped back, a puzzled look adorning her face.

"It's a maze... A maze with different connected layers. Jaune, whatever you do, do not forget to mark where we have been. We could get lost down here."

They assembled on the elevator, the machine carrying them upwards once Nora poured some energy into the sphere. They started walking again, searching for a way back down to the level below.

-White Fang Stronghold-

Cinder was again sat sewing, having almost finished augmenting her combat gear with some different Dust in order to bolster its defensive capabilities when she was disturbed by a knock at the door. She rolled her eyes, a sour expression on her face. Her expression quickly became neutral when a voice rang from behind the door.

"Mistress Cinder?"

"Yes, Captain?"

"Adam has reported in. He's placed the final device."

"Excellent. Now, all we need to do is to test our new system both inside a kingdom and between kingdoms."

"Already set up, mistress. If you would like to follow me, I can show you."

"How kind."

Setting aside her combat gear, she crossed her room and opened the door, a large man with red markings across his mask stood outside, tribal tattoos adorning his arms. An enormous chain sword was strapped to his back. In place of his old Lieutenant markings were the more advanced markings of a Captain.

"Banesaw, was it? Please, lead on."

The large man stepped out in front of her, setting off down the narrow corridors, leading Cinder across the compound.

"Oh, and another message reached us today, addressed for you. It was from one Roman Torchwick."

"Torchwick... What happened to him?"

"He was captured shortly after the breach incident and subsequently shipped off to an Atlesian gulag. He's asking for help in escaping."

"I have no time for failures. He shall remain in his gulag until his sentence is up. Surely you remember an aide of mine named Mercury?"

"The name rings a bell."

"Good. Because he failed me too, and I let him be executed for his failure."

The rest of the walk was spent in uncomfortable silence, Banesaw not attempting to start a conversation with Cinder's razor tongue. He stopped at a set of heavy doors, using a key card to deactivate the powered locks, the door grinding open.

Compared to the rather dull and dirty compound, behind the door lay a pristine research area, a decontamination area making up both the entrance and exit, all of which were lit with clean white light. Banesaw ushered Cinder into the private decontamination chambers, the woman removing her clothes and replacing them with a one-piece coat and mask. After washing thoroughly, she stepped into the lab, waiting for her escort to emerge. When the captain did appear, she stepped in behind him, allowing him to lead her through the facility. Across the lab, every workstation was filled, a person working on something that Cinder had never seen before. Banesaw ignored every single one, moving to the end of the lab and opening another door through which he ushered her. Cinder arched an eyebrow at the sight within.

The room had two small desks in it. Various components were strewn across both. Both desks had a strange platform on them, one of which was suspended upside down. A similar platform was attached to the ceiling. Further back in the room, Adam Taurus was inspecting a device in his hands. Ignoring the other technologies in the room, Cinder immediately headed to him.

"Did you place all of the devices?"

The man looked at her, tossing the device between his hands and cracking a faint smile.

"Cinder, please. Over the last year, I've been travelling to the four kingdoms. I-"

"Get to the point."

Adam sighed.

"Eight devices have been placed in each of the four kingdoms."

"So we have full coverage?"

"Only in the kingdoms. Small islands like Patch and Menagerie, along with settlements that aren't the kingdoms, aren't safe to travel to using our new tech."

"It'll do. How did the tests go?"

"We had difficulty clearing the bloodstains from the failed tests. We've noted a 100% chance of an organic subject being torn apart by the forces involved."

"But the Pale Relay works?"

"It works, but it kills every living thing that passes through it. I will show you. Table."

Adam led Cinder to one of the tables. She watched as he flicked a switch, the platform on the table lighting up. The rim spun, and soon a small orb of flame swirled upwards from the platform. An identical orb had formed on the opposite table. Adam lifted two items; a weapons clip and a live mouse.

"Now, the relay works perfectly with inorganic objects, such as bullets, weapons and so on."

He dropped the magazine into the orb, and on the other table, the same magazine fell from the orb.

"However, for some reason, the relay always tears apart organic matter of any kind, be it a mouse..." He dropped the mouse into the orb, a spray of blood and bone dropping onto the table. "...or something as simple as a carrot." He dropped the vegetable in, the carrot emerging as a charred mess. Cinder considered the destroyed organics.

"Well, at the very least the relay could be used to easily resupply our sleeper agents. I doubt many Faunus subjects have come forward. We need-"

"Mistress Cinder! We have an intruder!"

Rolling her eyes and sighing with contempt, she ran across the lab and towards the decontamination chamber, with the intent to recover her gear. She did not get that far, as one of the steel walls buckled, glowing red as a jet of pale fire burst through. The molten metal spilled across the floor, Cinder taking several steps backwards to avoid it. She willed herself to remain calm, even as a figure stepped through the hole, leaping clear of the molten steel. The woman- that much Cinder could tell- locked eyes with Cinder, gold irises glittering behind a Grimm mask that obscured her entire face, leaving her raven black hair to stream from the back.

"I hear you are researching teleport."

The intruder threw down one of Adam's devices.

"You people have no idea what you're doing."

Cinder's ego got the better of her, and she found herself speaking out of instinct.

"Oh, and I suppose you have a better idea?"

The intruder gave a curt laugh, a single syllable of arrogance. She raised a hand, pale fire curling around it.

"As a matter of fact, I do."

-Underground Maze-

"Everyone rested up?"

Four affirmations met Oobleck's ears, and he smiled. Pyrrha stood up, waiting for her teammates to do the same before they carried on walking. Jaune made sure that his shield was leaving a carbon trail for them to follow should they decide to turn around. Somewhere far below them, the gears continued to turn. JNPR soon came upon another elevator that would take them down. They found themselves on the correct level this time, and Pyrrha led them through the maze as she kept an eye on the scanner. Rounding one more corner, she saw the next module. She picked it up and played the message without hesitation, an expression of horror growing on her face as it played. The others listened in too, with similar fear.

"A message from Blake, Team RWBY Recon,

If you're listening to this, it's already too late. The corridors will have changed and the way out may no longer exist. I missed it. I was ignorant and I failed to realise that of course those gears were driving something. I never would have believed they would be moving the corridors of the maze though. We have no choice. Our way out is gone, so we have to go deeper into these Clockwork Caverns. If you're listening, run now. Get out. Your exit may still exist. If it doesn't, may your end be swift."

Oobleck looked between Team JNPR, fear and panic apparent on his face.

"Alright Team. Now, normally I give third and fourth-years freedom to dictate the mission. However, I am taking control and issuing one command."

"Professor?"

"Run!"

Pyrrha pocketed the recon module and lurched ahead of the group, following Jaune's trail. She turned onto the long, straight corridor that they had spent ten minutes walking down and sprinted. She was pitched onto her face as the entire corridor shifted, throwing her off balance. She landed just in front of the rift forming between the corridor, and she caught a view of the caverns below.

The entire structure was impossibly balanced above a shining light almost a kilometre below them. Corridors branched across the void, driven by colossal gears that altered the route every second. The corridor she was in was rotating and was now perpendicular to their previous route. The corridor dropped, and Pyrrha noticed that while the corridors they were in were white, the ones below grew darker until they were pure black. Oobleck gasped when he looked out of the corridor.

"This place… it's all clockwork… we have no choice. Team JNPR, we now have seventy-two hours to reach the deepest level. Look, only one elevator goes into that light, and it's in a large chamber. All we have to do is go deeper."


	4. Deeper

-Clockwork Caverns-

"Alright, JNPR. We may be trapped down here. As far as I could tell when the corridor was moving, we are now on the third level down. If this place is a kilometre deep, and each level is fifty metres apart, we have another seventeen levels to navigate before we reach the bottom of this pit. If we're lucky, we can get outside the tunnels when they change again. As long as someone catches Jaune, that is. Until then, lead on, Pyrrha."  
Nodding, the spartan turned and walked down the tunnel, the red lines inlaid in the wall glowing continuously. Following the turns of the tunnels, they soon found another elevator going down. They dropped another fifty metres into the caverns, stumbling as corridor jolted and moved. No openings appeared.  
"The whole level must have just rotated." Oobleck said. "Whoever designed this place, they did not want whatever's down there being found."  
"Professor." Ren started. "Who could have designed this place? It would be impossible to build this even with Atlas tech."  
"I have one theory, but I need more evidence first."  
The answer did not satisfy Ren, but he did not press the subject further. Instead, he kept pace with Pyrrha, who was beginning to pull ahead of them.  
"Pyrrha."  
She ignored him, rounding the next corner and immediately turning off again.  
"Pyrrha."  
The corridor they were in shuddered, and Pyrrha stopped.  
"Pyrrha, please slow down."  
"We don't have time to slow down."  
"We can't afford to get split up."  
The rest of JNPR and Oobleck appeared in the corridor as it began to shift. It detached from the two corners and began to rotate. Pyrrha looked into the empty space between levels.  
"There's a corridor below us now! Jump!"  
Pyrrha, Ren and Nora jumped first, followed by Jaune, whom Pyrrha caught. Oobleck landed last.  
"Alright, we're on top of level four. It should be easy to reach the bottom now."  
"Wait, Pyrrha. We can't just jump in without recon."  
"But we could just wait for a break in the corridors and jump back in on the twentieth level."  
"We don't know how this place works, Pyrrha. We should get as far down as possible and head back inside. Look."  
The Team looked over the edge. Far below, below the tenth level, a dark mist hovered. It wasn't very dense, as the light from the depths of the caverns was clearly visible. But something about it made Oobleck feel uneasy, a feeling like it was staring back at him. He shuddered.  
"We must get back into the tunnels before we reach the mist. Look- the tenth level is a single large chamber. There's only one way in from level nine, so we need to get inside. Until then, jump."  
One level at a time, the Team descended, dropping fifty metres at a time into the cavern, the corridors darkening in colour to a dull grey. Soon enough, they stood perched atop the ninth level, directly above the elevator to the tenth level, waiting for one of the corridors to change. They got their chance as one began to rise, another swiftly approaching to fill the gap with a different path. Before the path was closed, Pyrrha led the Team inside and onto the elevator. A quick pulse of Aura started the mechanism, the platform carrying the Hunters down again. Before the platform had even touched down, Oobleck was off examining the multitude of markings on the walls and floor halfway down the chamber.  
"These are scratch marks. This point was the next line of defence, but where is the door?" He looked up, spotting the slab jutting from the ceiling. "I assume Team RWBY opened this door."  
Pyrrha walked past Oobleck, the rest of JNPR in tow, heading straight for the recon module lying beyond the door.  
"Message from Yang of RWBY,  
We're about halfway through the tunnels. We ran Ito this huge slab with a strange sigil carved into it. It looks familiar, but we couldn't remember where we may have seen it before. Image of the sigil is enclosed. After that, we pumped it full of Aura and it just ground open. We're going deeper, so you know where to find our corpses if we don't come back out."  
Oobleck took the module from Pyrrha's hands, inspecting it before pressing a button. The lens glowed for a few seconds before light streamed out of it. Oobleck angled the light towards the floor, fine tuning his aim before the image became focused; a stylised crescent with strange text and symbols inside.  
"I had a theory." Oobleck started. "It turns out it was correct. Looks like Team RWBY stumbled upon a Créshin structure. But this is absurd. Insane! This is advanced, even for them. I have no doubt that the mechanisms here run on Dust. But what purpose does this place serve?"  
"Looks like we have to go deeper to find out." Ren said. He raised a hand to fill the elevator with Aura, but dropped his hand when he saw the crimson energy spiralling within. "Looks like it's already powered."

-Compound-

"So." Cinder coldly regarded the woman stood before her. "You say that you'll survive. How?"  
"I can't say."  
"You expect me to take your word for it?"  
"Yes."  
"What makes you so special, opposed to the other organic test subjects?"  
The woman produced a small jet of pale flame.  
"What do I call you, intruder? What is your name?"  
"I have no name."  
"Take off your mask. I need an identifiable factor before we employ you."  
Staring at Cinder for a brief moment, the woman lifted her arms, one hand going behind her head and the other supporting the front of the mask. She lifted the strap and allowed her arm to drop. Cinder narrowed her eyes.  
"Blake Belladonna."  
"Excuse me?"  
"Blake Belladonna, you. You left us years ago and have been leading attacks against us ever since."  
"I don't remember."  
"You don't?"  
"I have no memories of my life before a few days ago when I woke up in the wastes outside this compound."  
"So you thought the best course of action would be to blast a hole in our compound and kill several of my zealots?"  
"I have just one memory."  
"Oh? And what's that?"  
Flecks of blue burned in the gold of Blake's eyes.  
"Humans are scum. The Faunus are superior. You have no idea how much restraint it is taking me to not boils your eyes out of your head."  
"That's good enough, so long as you don't kill any more of my soldiers. Now, to testing."  
Cinder signalled one of the lab workers, who then began tapping away at a panel. Two of the platforms began to power up, pale fire beginning to coalesce into billowing pillars, constantly swirling. Cinder pointed to one of them.  
"Walk through there, and if you are as special as you claim, you won't be torn apart like one-hundred percent of the organic test subjects."  
With an indignant grunt, Blake stood and walked into the portal without hesitation, immediately being thrown out of the other end. Several of the lab workers gasped, while Cinder just looked on with an opportunistic glint in her eyes.  
"Blake, do you remember how you got your fire powers?"  
"No."  
"Never mind then. Next test: using the localised device."  
Unlocking a cabinet, Cinder lifted a smaller platform outfitted with straps and a heat sink from inside and handed it to Blake, who shrugged it onto her shoulders. She winced when a membrane of wire spread across her back, some of the wires digging into her flesh and wrapping around her spine.  
"It's almost like a symbiote." Cinder explained. "It lets you use it just by thinking, while also making it impossible for others to use. You must understand that it hasn't been tested as it needs a living partner, and with organic testing having just succeeded..."  
"I get it. It's untested."  
"Now, for quite some time, Adam here has been travelling across Remnant, placing these devices around the four Kingdoms in the hope that they would be ready should testing ever finish. And only the four Kingdoms, meaning your pack won't work anywhere else. Outside an area where these are set up, the pack does nothing. But, when inside..." Cinder motioned for Blake to step into the circle of devices, the pack lighting up blue when she did so. "You should be able teleport around freely."  
"I can already do that with my Semblance."  
"Ah, but you're limited to an extremely short range as our sleeper agents have noted. This gives you unlimited range inside a field, and also lets you teleport to other fields. Note that it will probably take longer to charge for a cross-field jump than a simple blink."  
"Why are you giving me this?"  
Cinder grinned darkly.  
"We've been without an assassin for quite some time, no thanks to you and that insufferable Academy of yours. We aim to have full coverage of the Kingdoms of Remnant, so we can strike anywhere at any time, as well as disappear just as quickly. Like the angel of death."  
"When do we start?"  
"Now. There's a man who has been stealing from us. I don't know who he thinks he is, expecting that he can do that without us knowing. He lives in Vacuo."  
"His name?"  
"Felix Crimson."  
Blake replaced her mask before her pack spun up, consuming her in a cloud of flame, spiriting her across Remnant.

-Clockwork Caverns-

"JNPR! Wake up!"  
Oobleck hissed at the younger Hunters, motioning for them to be silent. They were on the twelfth level, and had been taking shifts while resting. But Oobleck had heard something over the noise of the gears, something that was not just the sound of heavy machinery.  
"Something is down here with us. I don't know what it is. Be on your guard."  
Picking up their weapons and backpacks, Team JNPR followed behind Oobleck as he picked his way through the darkened tunnels. As they went deeper, the tunnels were getting darker. Even here, their vision was severely limited. And now, to add to the list of problems beside an ever-in-flux maze and darkness, there was now a creature stalking the halls.  
Dropping down another level, a ping caused everyone to turn their weapons on Pyrrha.  
"Really?"  
She took her pack off and unzipped it, taking out one of the recon modules they had collected. The display was on. Pyrrha slowly turned on the spot, looking for the signature of another module. She found it, and it was on the same level as them. She took the lead. The Team stopped frequently, crouching and falling silent whenever another faint roar echoed through the maze. After wandering for almost an hour, Pyrrha rounded another corner to the slowly blinking light of a recon module. She winced as Blake's voice rang out of it.  
"Message from Blake, Team RWBY Recon,  
There is something down here with us. Up until now we could only hear it, but now we're certain it knows we're here. I caught a glimpse of something watching us from the end of a tunnel, but as soon as it realised I saw it, it vanished. Whatever it is, it's huge. If anyone is listening, take extreme caution. At this point, you'll never make it outside."  
The message cut off. Nora screamed. The entire Team turned, following the normally joy-filled girl's gaze down the corridor. Something moved at the end of the hall moved before vanishing.  
"Oh dear."  
Nora was wide-eyed with surprise. Ren was similarly stunned, bewildered as to how he hadn't detected the beast before it got so close to them.  
"Come on." Oobleck started. "We need to keep moving. We still need to deeper down to find out what happened to RWBY."

-Vacuo-

Blake appeared in a darkened alleyway in a flash of light, stumbling as she was forced out of the Pale Relay. She shivered in the cold desert night, quickly conjuring a flame to warm herself up before slinking onto the main streets. There were few Vacuans out at this time of night, most either at home or in restaurants and cafes, enjoying the night. She felt out of place and extremely conspicuous with her mask on, but she could not show her face. Biding her time, she waited for a lone citizen to split away from their group. She soon saw her victim- a man wearing a long, hooded cloak. She used her Semblance to blink towards him, covering his mouth and snapping his neck before dragging the corpse into the alley. She removed his cloak, sliding into it before crushing skull under her boot and cremating him. She stepped into the street, the ill-gotten cloak serving to hide her gear and face while she searched Vacuo.  
Reaching the centre of town, she saw that a cenotaph had been built. Whether she had seen it before, Blake could not remember. Moving closer, she read the plaque that had been bolted onto the stone obelisk.  
 _Erected in memory of those who perished in the cruel hellfire of Nova._  
Looking down, a long list of names had been chiselled into the plaque.  
 _What manner of beast was Nova, to have caused such destruction?_ Blake thought to herself. She spotted a citizen approaching, and tensed up, gripping the Gambol Shroud beneath her cloak. The man stopped in front of the plaque, dragging a finger down the list before locating a specific name. What he did next puzzled Blake; he placed a single rose in the name.  
"Excuse me." The man turned to Blake, and she saw that he had been crying. "Sorry, but what are you doing?"  
"Oh, it's just my way of remembering my wife. I was out of town when Nova attacked, but my wife was killed. It's her birthday today. Every year, I come and put a rose in her name on her birthday."  
"This will sound strange, but who was Nova?"  
The man's expression soured.  
"You don't know?"  
"Amnesia."  
"Oh, I see. Well, Nova was some demon that had possessed a girl from Beacon. She went and destroyed this entire area before stealing one of the scrolls from the Archives and awakening the Ancient Grimm Vulkoss. That beast destroyed Mistral completely and took out a large chunk of Vale before it was brought down. Nova was killed some time later, by the same girl she had possessed. How fittingly cathartic."  
As Blake processed the man's words, she felt a headache flare into existence. She raised a hand to her head, grunting with pain.  
"You all right?"  
"I'm fine, just a headache. Thanks for the talk."  
"Not a problem."  
"Oh, one other thing. Do you know where I can find a man called Felix Crimson?"  
"No, but your best bet would be the Archives. He's usually in there."  
"Thank you."  
Following the signs around town, Blake found herself standing in front of the Archives. Quickly consulting the photo of him provided by Cinder, Blake headed inside, cringing when she saw the expansive security measures in front of her. Detectors, body scanners, androids, all of which were unavoidable. She was surprised to see Felix himself emerging from the Archives, his feline eyes as red as his name suggested locking onto hers.  
"Sorry, but the Archives are closed. Not that we'd let you enter wearing a cloak and mask."  
"I understand."  
Heading outside, Blake briefly checked that the area was clear before blinking up to the roof, waiting for Felix to emerge. When he stepped outside ten minutes later, Blake tailed him through Vacuo, sticking to the shadows on the rooftops and following his movements closely. Coming close to the suburbs, Felix unlocked the door to a detached house and entered. Blake teleported inside, hiding at the top of the stair case as Felix locked the door again. She was not expecting him to talk to her.  
"Before we start, stalker, would you like to leave?"  
Blake said nothing, opting instead to draw the Gambol Shroud.  
"So be it."  
Quickly, almost quicker than Blake could follow, Felix had ascended the stairs and launched himself at her, contempt etched into his face as he struck out at her with heavy gauntlets. Blake barely dodged the first punch, and was launched into a bedroom by the second.  
"You know, you're lucky my son isn't in there, otherwise I'd have to kill you."  
Appearing in the doorway, thin blades attached to the gauntlets by chain dropped to the floor, red energy dancing down them. Blake dodged the first swing, teleporting behind Felix and ducking under the elbow aimed at her face before slashing at him with her cleaver, his Aura deflecting the blow but causing him to stagger. In the time it took him to recover, Blake opened fire, bullets slamming into him and forcing him onto his belly. He groaned.  
"That was a cheap trick. But I'm far from done."  
Firing his blades forward, he pulled himself to the opposite wall and jumped to his feet, energy curling around him.  
"You can't beat me, stalker. Not unless you can beat your own fears."  
A flash of scarlet radiated out of Felix's body, momentarily blinding Blake. When she opened her eyes, she did not see the bedroom she had been in, only a white void with a single figure stood before her. It charged, but Blake could not bring herself to move, like a rabbit caught in the headlights. The illusion shattered just as Felix swung, a flying dart shearing through the cloak and mask, revealing her face. His eyes widened.  
"Blake Belladonna?"  
Growling she threw a sphere of fire at him, forcing Felix to defend himself while she charged up her pack, teleporting away and leaving Felix alone in his house with a scorch mark on the carpet.  
"What has happened to you, Blake? Have you been lost again?"  
Pulling out his Scroll and reciting a number from memory, he called Beacon Academy. He paced nervously as he waited for the call to go through.  
"Beacon Academy, who is calling?"  
"Glynda, it's Felix. I need to speak to Ozpin."  
"I'm afraid Professor Ozpin is busy at the moment. Can I take a-"  
"This regards Team RWBY. I just ran into Blake, or rather, I was attacked by Blake. Something's happened to her."  
"One moment."  
Felix waited for a few moments before Ozpin's voice came through.  
"Felix."  
"Ozpin, Blake is not missing. Judging by this shattered mask on my floor, she's working for the White Fang."  
"That's absurd. Blake would never work with the White Fang."  
"Something about this is strange. This is hardly the Blake we knew. She was barely there, a shell of her former self. Whatever happened to here, we're not dealing with a complete Blake here."  
"If Blake is here, what about the other three?"  
"No idea, but you've no doubt seen the worrying news from Mistral."  
"The centre of the crater left by Vulkoss is currently molten."  
"Exactly. What could have caused that?"  
"I don't know, but if they return, I'll see to it that JNPR investigates."  
"Team JNPR? Where are they now?"  
"Inside the caves where Team RWBY went missing."  
"If Blake's here, who knows what they'll find down there?"

 **Please leave a review if something doesn't seem right to you, I can fix things that way.**


	5. Capture

-Clockwork Caverns-

Over the course of thirty six hours, Team JNPR had made their way down to level twenty- the final floor, with just one elevator leading downwards into the light. But, they were no longer alone. They knew that at every corner, the beast that also inhabited the tunnels could be waiting behind it, ready to surge forward in a blur of darkness to end them before they could reach the last known whereabouts of Team RWBY.

As they had descended, the hallways had gotten dark, reaching a point where only the red crystal in the walls were visible. Each member of the Team had put on night vision goggles in order to compensate. The beast had been getting much bolder and much more aggressive, no longer hovering at the edges of their sight, and instead charging in for rapid strikes before disappearing. The Hunters had been hard-pressed to repel it, and they were at a loss as to how it could have an appendage cut off and grow a new one so quickly.

Resting again, Pyrrha, Jaune and Ren sat against the walls while Oobleck and Nora took watch down either end of the corridor. Moments later, a set of claws raked against Nora's Aura, Ren already closing the gap between himself and the beast and firing point blank into its eyes, wincing underneath his goggles as the muzzle flashes lit the corridor. Nora recovered quickly, and once Maghnild collided with the beast several times, it vanished, pink canisters following its retreat. Nora almost Pyrrha, who had sprung up and pursued the creature.

"If it's defending the lift, it'll lead us to it!"

The rest of the Team set off after her, struggling to keep up with the red-head, but she soon slowed down, having lost sight of the beast.

"It's far too fast! How can a Grimm be so fast?"

"It's not a Grimm." Oobleck chipped in. "Ren knows, all signatures of Grimm creatures stopped on the first level. They don't have the Aura needed to operate the elevators."

"Then what is that thing?"

"My best guess is that it's simply a manifestation of darkness, or it is the mist that we saw. Something engineered by the Créshin, most likely. Unless we found a codex explaining what it was, we'll simply never know. In any case, it looks like we're close." The professor leant down, plucking a high-caliber shell casing from the ground. "This is too large for Pyrrha's weapon, and the wrong shape for Nora's. This has to have come from Crescent Rose."

On further inspection, Oobleck could see that many smaller casings also littered the floor.

"I imagine they belonged to Blake. Either we're close, or this corridor was close. Maybe this place works on a rotation, or by dumb luck we've come very close to finding the final elevator."

The beast swept into them again, blocking them from going forward. Oobleck grinned at its appearance.

"We're right, aren't we? We're getting close so you're trying very hard to stop us. Well..." Three fireballs forced it to take a step back. "You're not going to stop us."

Jaune charged, burying his sword up to the hilt in the creature's neck before forcing his shoulder underneath and jumping, tearing a large gash open around its head. It shrieked, arms sprouting from its back to cover the wound as it rapidly healed, allowing the entire Team to get behind it. As the Hunters ran, the creature spent a moment turning itself around in the confined space before pursuing, surging forward teeth bared. Nora turned, firing grenades as she went, the blasts forcing the creature to slow down slightly. It almost caught up to Nora, as she staggered when the corridor jolted. She quickly recovered, leaping into the next section as the previous corridor containing the beast rotated away from them. She laughed almost hysterically.

"That... Was like an action movie! Ha!"

She quickly calmed down when she realised that the others were not laughing along with her.

They were stood in the final chamber; there was no other way out, apart from the way they came in. Two heavy doors lay torn from their hinges, having once stood in the frame where Nora stood. Spent casings almost covered the ground. Jaune picked up the wrecked chassis of a drone, inspecting the cracks and broken weapon. Pyrrha saw a recon module half-buried in brass, and was quick to dig it out and play the message. Blake's voice was barely audible over the gunshots, shouts and roads making up the background noise.

"Blake of RWBY,

We have little time. We're trapped in a room with a machine of some sort one side and a beast hell-bent on killing us on the other. Yang's trying to get the doors open now. We have no options left: we're going into the machine if it helps us escape this place. At this point we have nothing left to-"

"Blake! Come on!"

"Lose."

There was the sound of the module hitting the ground, followed by an incredibly loud roar and heavy doors grinding shut, followed by silence broken by guttural breathing. That too faded with heavy footsteps. Oobleck walked to the machine, placing both hands on the doors. Noticing the open panel, he looked inside, running a finger through the red Dust inside the reservoir, the particles taking on a faint glow as he did so. The doors ground open, light streaming from inside. Team JNPR looked into the pit.

"How do we get down there?"

"I assume there's an elevator. Team RWBY must have already gone down. Well, I guess the cable's the next best thing."

Taking a first aid kit from his bag, Oobleck wrapped his hand in bandages before taking hold of the nearest wire. He turned to the Team.

"Don't just stand there. Bind your hands and follow me."

Oobleck began his descent, the rest of JNPR following moments later, the bandages protecting their hands as they slid down the cables. The platform soon came into view. As he waited for JNPR to land, he stepped off the elevator platform and gasped. Either side of him, along a long corridor, were chairs outfitted with all sorts tubes and wires. A large pool lay behind each chair. However, it was not the chairs that shocked the professor, but rather, their inhabitants. As far as he could tell, only four chairs were filled, and they were filled by Team RWBY; Ruby and Blake on the left, Weiss and Yang on the right. The pools behind each of them contained a different volume of coloured liquid.

"Professor, what is...? Oh..."

Pyrrha's question died in her throat when she saw the missing Team.

"I believe... Sorry, I believe that this place was once a prison."

"Are they still alive?" Placing an ear to each of their chests, Pyrrha answered the question herself. "They're alive, they're alive." She reassured herself.

Nora was crouched behind Ruby's chair, inspecting her pool. Out of the four members of Team RWBY, Ruby's pool looked the most full, shimmering red liquid barely below the edge.

"What is this stuff?"

She reached to put a hand in, but Ren stopped her. He placed a hand over the surface taking care not to touch it. His eyes glowed more intensely for a brief second.

"They're memories."

Oobleck walked away down the corridor, counting fifty chairs before he reached a door. Opening it, he saw a large room with three other identical doors. One quick glance outside each of them showed another corridor lined with chairs. Moving to the centre of the room, Oobleck placed his hand on another sphere, allowing his Aura to flow into it. It sunk into the floor, and he stepped back as an olive-green pool of light formed, a cold breeze drifting through it. Lying flat, he put his head through the ring, laughing to himself when his head appeared on the surface. Standing up again inside the prison, he rejoined JNPR. He frowned when he noticed Ren staring directly at Ruby with his hands on either side of her head. He flinched when her eyes snapped open.

"Help me, Ren."

"Ruby, can you hear me?" Ren questioned.

"Ruby? Who's Ruby?"

"You. You're Ruby."

"Oh. It's weird, it's like I've forgotten something really important. Can you get me out of here?"

Ren inspected the shackles holding her arms and legs in place, as well as the many tubes in her skin.

"No. I don't know how."

"Huh. Well, I don't know what happened here. I can't remember. I know where we are though."

"Where are your missing memories?"

"I don't know. I don't know how this place works. Try asking the others. I am... So tired..."

Ruby's eyes slid shut, and Ren stood up straight.

"Blake's pool is quite full, Ren. Maybe we should try her." Pyrrha suggested.

"Right."

He crouched in front of Blake, placing a hand on either side of her head, his eyes flaring brightly. Blake slowly opened her eyes.

"Ren?"

"Blake. Can you tell me what happened here?"

"I... I think so. When we got down here, Weiss collapsed because of an injury, so we put her in a chair." She pointed, and Pyrrha noticed the crimson stain on the left side of the heiress' clothes. "We each sat in a different chair, not realising what they would do."

"What did they do?"

"They tore out all of our memories, dumping them in the pools behind us." She tilted her head towards the oily pool behind her. "Then something came out of the pools and disappeared, they looked like us, except they had this brand on their faces." She traced it in the air with a finger. "I think that's where our missing memories went."

Blake yawned, falling asleep again. Ren stood up, turning to Oobleck.

"So, how do we get out of here? We don't have the supplies to go out through the maze."

"There's a portal in the room over there. Looks like the Créshin figured these techniques out ages before we ever could."

Heading towards the portal, Jaune jumped in first, not prepared for the sudden stop when his feet hit solid ground just two feet through the portal. Groaning, he crouched down, appearing on the surface beneath a glowing ring. He crawled out of the way as Pyrrha's boots appeared. She bent double and shuffled out into the forest, quickly checking her Scroll to find out where they were, placing a marker on the digital map so she remembered where the portal was. Ren came next, followed closely by Nora and Oobleck. The professor's Scroll immediately pinged when it picked up a signal. He read the message from Ozpin.

 _Contact me ASAP._

Frowning, he called Ozpin, the dial tone buzzing quietly. The line was picked up seconds later.

"Oobleck, you're back on the grid. Did you manage to find Team RWBY?"

"We did."

"All four of them were there? Including Blake?"

"Yes, why?"

"I received a call from one Felix Crimson. He was attacked by Blake, who appears to be working for the White Fang again. He said she didn't recognise him at all."

Oobleck glanced at Ren.

"We just talked with Blake. She and the rest of Team RWBY are trapped in a Créshin prison, and all of them have had memories removed."

"Is that so? Well, I'm sure that the two are connected somehow. Come back to Beacon. We need to discuss this face to face."

-White Fang Compound-

"You failed."

"I can explain."

"No, you can't. You had the drop on him, and you failed to kill him."

"His Semblance is fear. What can you do when you're literally paralysed with fear?"

"You could have at least stabbed him before he sensed you."

"He's a Faunus. He knew I was there."

Cinder pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes for a brief second.

"Go after him again. And this time, go at him from a distance."

She signalled the Zealot stood behind her, who placed a large case in front of Blake. She reached out and opened it, gently lifting the sniper rifle from inside.

"This is one of our more recent toys. No rifling, and fires bullets that are extremely effective at nullifying Aura." Cinder explained. "One shot should wipe his reserves, then you can go in for the kill. If you decide to finish him off with this rifle, aim for the vitals, not the head. The bullets are designed to shear apart to cause the most damage possible."

Blake inspected the weapon, its bolt mechanism, its variable scope and the heavy bipod. She went to sling it across her back with the strap provided, but Cinder stopped her.

"We have a better way of getting this to you. Now, our informants tell us that Felix is headed to Beacon at this very moment. You're going to get their first and wait."

Nodding, Blake stepped away and into warp circle, vanishing in a burst of light and appearing at the top of one of Beacon's towers. She staggered with the force of the jump, almost falling until she took hold of the spire. Steadying herself, Blake cast a glance across the campus, careful searching below her before jumping, moving across the roofs of the many buildings, slowly moving towards the landing pads.

She waited for hours, keeping an eye on the sky the whole time. About an hour beforehand, her sniper rifle had been warped to her, appearing in a flash of flame. She caught it, quietly setting it down and resting it against the ledge of the building, constantly making small adjustments to the scope as she trained it on the horizon. Now, she could just about pick out the lights of a Bullhead flying in from the west, the tips of its wings flashing steadily. She tracked it as it peeled off-course, coming in to land on one of the further pads.

"Blake, report."

"Target is landing, captain."

Blake adjusted her aim, slowing her breathing as the craft touched down, a thin veil of dust rising from the downdraft. The doors opened.

"Target sighted."

"Fire at will."

Blake took a deep breath and held it, watching impassively as Felix stepped from the craft, looking around the darkened campus. He locked eyes with her, and Blake pulled the trigger, the rifle bucking against her shoulder. The bullet found its mark, most of the damage absorbed by Felix's Aura and the force of it knocking him over. He frowned when the bullet bruised him, and glowered at her when the bruise didn't heal. He stood and raised his arms as she fired again, the bullet glancing past his gauntlets and shearing apart, the shrapnel grazing either side of his face and chest. A third shot caught Felix's thigh, forcing him onto his side. She heard his cry of pain from her perch.

"Target incapacitated."

"Kill him."

Blake moved to shoot his chest, but at that point, Ozpin appeared in Blake's scope.

"Captain, Ozpin's here."

"Ozpin?" Blake heard voices on the other end of the radio. "Kill him too."

Quickly adjusting her aim, she fired again, the spent casing rattling against the roof. In the blink of an eye, Ozpin had projected a white cone of force from his cane, shattering the bullet mid-flight and redirecting the shrapnel, a single shard brushing past his face. He too glowered at Blake, swinging his cane upwards. A wave of force tore apart the building beneath Blake. She fell, landing on the courtyard and was immediately blown over by a second wave. In the time it took Blake to recover, Ozpin had closed the gap between them.

"I don't know why you're suddenly against us. I don't like it. I do not make exceptions when one of my friends are attacked, student or not."

Blake began to charge up to teleport away, but a single concussive blow to head stopped her, the energy dissipating as unconsciousness pitched her into oblivion. Ozpin stood over her, shaking his head sadly before carrying her into the central building.

Inside a small, featureless room in Beacon, Blake awoke, squinting in the harsh light. She went to cover her eyes, but found that she couldn't move her hands. As she grew accustomed to the glare, she saw that her wrists and ankles had been secured to a chair with plastic cuffs. She rolled her eyes, building a charge to teleport before realising that she couldn't feel where to go, like she couldn't decide where to land. She then noticed the ring of symbols glowing on the floor. She looked up sharply when Ozpin stepped into the room.

"Felix tells me you teleported away. I had Glynda put up an interference field to stop you from escaping so easily."

"Oh, I have far more surprises ready, old man."

Her entire body exploded with heat, her clothes curling and burning away. She stopped, attempting to stand only to find that she had accomplished nothing, and was now naked. Ozpin half-smiled and threw a blanket over her.

"I advise you not to burn this one. This blanket will give way long before that thermosetting plastic does. Failing that, well, the metal inside has an extremely high melting point."

"So, you caught me, human. You're not going to get anything out of me."

"Oh, we're hardly the torturous type of people. We don't like hurting people unless it's absolutely necessary. What you did to Felix, however, was uncalled for."

"He was stealing from us."

"And you thought it necessary to kill him. That seems a bit disproportionate."

"It is justice."

"The White Fang are misguided. You knew that, you said it yourself, three years ago. Why are you helping them now?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"So you have no memories."

"No."

"Only a mentality, and a brand."

Ozpin held up a mirror, and Blake inspected the right side of her face, inspecting the markings cut into her skin.

"I don't remember getting these scars."

"You don't have-" Ozpin was cut off by a ping on his Scroll. "Excuse me. Professor Oobleck, you're back. No. Well, come to the temporary holding cells. I believe I can help."

Ozpin stepped outside, closing the door behind him, leaving Blake alone in the _cell_. Minutes later, he and Oobleck stepped back in, the latter immediately walking forward and inspecting the brand on her face, tracing it with his finger. She jerked her head away, and when he didn't stop touching her, she heated herself up, causing Oobleck to snatch his hand away.

"This is the same symbol. I think we need to take her back into the caverns."

"You want to take a dangerous, racist amnesiac down into a changing maze."

"There's a shortcut, now that we powered it up."

"The second you take her out of that ring, she will teleport away and we'll never see her again. The rune is too complex to minimise."

Oobleck groaned, running a hand through his hair, racking his brains to think of a way to move the murderous Blake into the caverns.

"Anyway, professor, we have another problem. The crater in Mistral has become molten. I want you to take Team JNPR out there and investigate as soon as possible."

"Ozpin, they have just got back from a mission."

"I know. Let them rest for a day or two, then take them over there. It pains me to do this, but JNPR knows RWBY the best. We have the highest chance of success with them."

-Mistral-

"Will that be everything?"

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Tsul."

"Please, just Tsul is fine."

He slid the Disc into a case before handing it over the counter, quickly counting up the Lien before him. Satisfied, he took his hand off the case.

"Come again!"

The small bell above the door rattled as his customer left. Tsul put the money in the register before continuing to grind up Dust crystals into a small crucible. Sighing, he walked out from behind the counter, flipping the sign on the door from "Open" to "Closed" before taking out a brush and sweeping up. He was less than a minute into his task when his Scroll rang, Kisaragi's face appearing on-screen.

"Yes?"

"Tsul, it's happening again."

" _Again?_ This is the fourth time this week!"

"Well, just get over here. I can't drive it off on my own!"

Rolling his eyes, Tsul checked his Focii before leaving the shop, waiting as the shutters rolled down over the locked door. They had expanded after their short stint in Vale, having made enough money to buy a bigger shop in Mistral as well as quad bikes for the two of them. Jumping into his, he headed for the city limits, going beyond the bounds and east towards the crater left by Vulkoss. He soon spotted Kisaragi's white quad bike and parked his dark one next to it, going the rest of the distance by foot. In the distance, at the rim of the crater, stood Kisaragi, his chakram in hand. Tsul approached, his Focii sliding into place.

"Where?"

Kisaragi pointed into the heat haze. An indistinct figure was headed towards them, a stream of molten rock flowing back down the crater behind them. Tsul inspected the rim of the crater.

"Alright, when I say, cut here and over there." Tsul directed, pointing to two locations.

The figure drew closer, screams of rage growing louder alongside a building red glow. Tsul readied a blast, waiting for the perfect moment.

"Now!"

Three furrows appeared at the edge of the crater, followed by an explosion, several tons of rock thundering down the crater and into the haze. A screech of abject fury echoed around, causing Tsul to cringe and cover his ears. The wall of heat dissipated slightly, receding into the crater, soon disappearing entirely, revealing the pool of lava at the bottom. From the edge of the crater, neither of them could see who was crouched in the cooling rocks, and a haze constantly shrouded them from inspection with binoculars or similar tools. Tsul shook his head.

"What the hell is happening here?"


	6. A Volcanic Problem

"Glynda, we have a very difficult decision to make."

"What decision?"

"You see, Oobleck wants to take this shadow of Blake down into the caverns, but the second we take her out of the circle, she'll teleport. I've talked with Felix now that he's awake, and he said that Blake teleported without any sort of interface. That means that whatever she does to teleport is biological or symbiotic- judging by the machinery lodged in her back, I'd say its the latter."

"So the machine attached to her back is allowing her to teleport long distances. Can't we just remove it?"

"That's the problem. The machine is, to some degree, a symbiote. I did a quick scan when I brought her in two days ago just to prove my suspicions that removing it will cause severe damage to her lower back. It's entirely possible to remove, but in doing so we will paralyse her."

"But it's literally a shadow of the real Blake."

"Nonetheless, _she_ is still alive, and we have to get her back into the caverns either way. We have a while to think about it though- I've sent JNPR to investigate the Mistral Crater. It'll take them a while to get back but we must have a decision by then."

-Mistral-

Tsul was behind the counter of his shop again, checking his watch every few minutes. Closing time had already passed- he just liked to stay open a few minutes longer lest a willing customer be turned away. As his watch struck five past nine, he flipped the sign to closed and was about to start sweeping when there came a knock on the glass. Rolling his eyes, he turned back to the door, peering outside and opening the door when the he saw there were Hunters outside. He unlocked the door and stuck his head around.

"Can I help you?"

The apparent leader, a young blonde man with a sword sheathed at his side, stepped forward.

"We're from Beacon. We're Team JNPR, the Team Ozpin sent to help you."

Tsul blinked for a few seconds.

"Jaune! My apologies, I didn't recognise you for a second there." He looked around the knight. "And Nora, Pyrrha and Ren, too. Welcome to Mistral. Please, come in."

Tsul stood aside, permitting the quartet entry to the shop. Barely had he closed the door when Pyrrha spoke up.

"We were told you had a rather volcanic problem you needed help."

Tsul was thinking of a reply when his Scroll rang, Kisaragi's face appearing on-screen.

"Excuse me." He sighed and answered. "Is it happening again? Alright." He looked at the Team before him. "Right, I'd love to talk, but unfortunately, our problem is happening again. Come on, I'll show you. You do have transport, right?"

"We have a car."

"Follow me out of town then."

Tsul ushered the Hunters out of the shop and watched as they piled into a small car, Ren behind the wheel. Tsul got onto his own quad bike and led the way to the crater, pulling over when he saw Kisaragi's bike a good distance away from the crater's edge. As soon as he stepped off the bike, he let his Focii slip into place. He spotted Kisaragi lying at the edge of the crater, a pair of binoculars held up to his eyes. He tapped him on the shoulder.

"Can you see anything?"

"Nope, there's too much haze. Who's this you've brought with you?"

"Team JNPR. You remember them, right?"

"Yeah, I remember. Now, it's moving up this side."

The wall of heat was mere metres from the rim of the crater, a groaning, heavy breathing emanating from the indistinct figure tearing their way up the side of the crater, the molten remains flowing back into the centre. Team JNPR appeared behind the two men, trying to identify the burning figure in the crater below. Ren's eyes flared with colour.

"I recognise her."

"Tsul, what do you recommend?"

He blasted a small chunk of the turf away, inspecting the rocks beneath before making his decision.

"Here, and here. JNPR, stand back."

They complied, and Tsul charged up a small but powerful blast.

"Now."

Two furrows opened in the ground as Kisaragi slashed impossibly fast, followed by an avalanche of rock when Tsul released his attack. A furious scream heralded a direct hit, forcing the being back into the crater. The wall of heat receded as they stepped into the central pool. Kisaragi sighed.

"It's always the same. It wakes up, it tries to leave the crater, we drop a rock slide on it, and it goes back. But we can never see through the haze it generates."

"Have you ever tried to take a closer look?" Pyrrha asked.

"From a distance, yes. Up close, no. Neither Tsul nor I want to risk going down there. We could get barbecued."

"I could go down."

Kisaragi choked back a laugh and turned to Jaune.

"You? Did you not jus here what I said? Barbecued."

"I've got enough Aura to last me for a few minutes."

Kisaragi threw his arms up.

"Fine! You want to risk your life, be my guest. Just watch out for any leftover lava."

Tsul brought a long rope over and tied it around Jaune, pushing the other end through a pulley. He nodded, and Jaune pitched backwards, dropping over the edge. Tsul controlled his descent down the steepest rock face at the edge of the crater, allowing Jaune to go at his own pace when the ground levelled out enough for him to stand. Kisaragi kept a close eye on him with his binoculars.

In the crater, Jaune was beginning to regret his decision. It was true that he had a comparatively huge supply of Aura, but he could already feel the heat slowly eating it away. He was certain that he would only lose Aura faster as he got close. He prayed the rope wouldn't burn up, otherwise getting back out of the crater again would prove difficult. He untied the rope, taking note of the knot used before laying it down, continuing his walk to the centre of the crater untethered. He was beginning to glow now, his Aura protecting him from the heat as he stepped into the haze. He staggered as his Aura consumption suddenly increased. Shaking it off, he stood at the edge of the pool of lava, gasping in surprise when he saw who was sat in it.

It was Yang, an enormous glowing brand on her face. Jaune called out to her.

"Yang! Are you alright?"

Her head shot up, and then she waded to the edge of the pool, the heat building the closer she got. Jaune gasped and turned away when he realised that she was naked.

"Jaune, what the hell are you doing here? Go! Run! I don't want to kill you!"

"What happened to you?"

"Have you been to the caverns with the Créshin stuff at the bottom?"

"Yeah."

"Well then you must know it tore out some of our memories. Unfortunately, the only memories left in that pool are memories of how to control my Semblance." She doubled over, veins of red spreading over her eyes before she quelled the instinct. She looked up at Jaune, breathing heavily.

"You have to leave. You can't get me into the caverns while I'm conscious, and no-one has ever beaten me. No one can even get close anymore." Her eyes widened and a look of fury burned on her face. "Except one. That little umbrella-twirling _bitch!_ I'll kill her. I'll kill you!" She doubled over again, and the next time she looked at him, her eyes were burning crimson. "Leave! Now!"

He turned and ran as she leaned back, a scream of primal rage accompanying the intensifying heat. Jaune felt his Aura about to give out as he tied the rope around his waist. He turned, doubling his effort when he saw the heat wave expanding towards him. He began climbing, scrabbling at the rock as Tsul struggled to pull in the rope fast enough. Jaune's Aura gave out, and he screamed as the heat wave enveloped him. He didn't wait for the rope to be untied at the top of the crater, he ran straight forward, trying to escape the awful heat. When he did hit the cold night air, he kept on running, his Teammates emerging from the haze glowing with Aura. Ren already looked quite ill, having never had much stamina when it came to Aura. Tsul and Kisaragi remained in the mist, cutting up a much larger chunk of earth to throw. One blast of shadows later and the ground was sent hurtling into the crater, Yang's voice floating out.

"I'll kill you! Burn! Burn to ashes!"

Her death threats were frowned out by her screams as the avalanche hit her, driving her back. The heat vanished, the two Mistralites gasping for cold air. Jaune was lying on the ground with Pyrrha stood over him, the latter pouring what Aura she had left into Jaune in an attempt to heal his scorched back. Tsul walked over, wiping the sweat from his head.

"I have some Dust back at the shop that'll help with that. Come on, you can tell us what happened then."

Upon returning to the shop, Jaune had his shirt cut away and the fabric peeled off his back, which was an ugly red. Tsul searched behind the counter and returned with a vial of a Dust mix.

"Which of you is best with Dust?"

Nora raised one hand, tossing a grenade in the other. Tsul nodded.

"I see. Well, here you to. See what you make of this. Be warned, you don't need much."

He handed the vial over, and Ren rolled his eyes, guiding Nora through curative Dust use. Tsul sat in front of Jaune.

"So, what happened down there? Who is it in the crater?"

"It's Yang from Team RWBY. She said she can't remember how to control her Semblance, so she just goes berserk."

"If that's the case, it should be fairly easy to get her into the caverns." Nora said, her hands glowing with green-white energy, tendrils of light piercing Jaune's back.

"Not really. She always has a wall of heat around her." Tsul interjected. "The first time she tried to leave the crater, we tried shooting at her. However, you know how he Semblance works. It got to a point where she was glowing with so much heat that the bullets stopped hitting her and were deflected by the Leidenfrost effect. No-one can even get close to her anymore. She was already unbeatable, and now she's untouchable."

"She has been beat before." Jaune continued. "She lost it when she mentioned someone who beat her down."

"Did she say who?"

"No, only that they used an umbrella, apparently."

Jaune grunted as the flesh on his back healed, the damage reversing as the Dust burned up. He stood up, opting not to put his shirt back on; first of all, it was in two pieces, and second, the back of it was slick with blood. He made do with his armour plates.

"It'd be best to ask Team RWBY about her. Tsul, thanks for the heal. We'll be back soon to solve your problem with Yang."

"I certainly hope so."

-Clockwork Caverns-

Having located the hidden portal to the prison, Team JNPR had entered the too-white structure again and were stood before Ruby's sleeping form. Ren placed both hands either side of her head and woke her up.

"Help me."

"I'm sorry Ruby, we can't yet. We haven't found you. But we have a question."

"Shoot."

"Your sister says only one person has beat her in a fight before, and that they used an umbrella. Can you tell us-"

"Neopolitan."

Ren frowned.

"Excuse me?"

"That's the one who beat her. Neo. The problem is, no-one's seen her since Roman was imprisoned years ago."

"I see. Thank you, Ruby."

She smiled sadly.

"Hurry back."

Ren removed his hands, and her silver eyes slid shut. Pyrrha was already dropping out of the prison, Scroll in hand.

"Ozpin?"

"Yes?"

"I need you to interrogate Roman Torchwick. We need to find his associate known as Neo."

Barely a few hours later, Ozpin was waved through a security checkpoint in the middle of the Atlesian Wastes. Ahead of him loomed an enormous black building, coated with snow and ice. He walked forwards, discreetly obstructing the howling wind so that it flowed around him. The inside of the building wasn't much warmer than the outside- the guards were all robotic, allowing the Atlas security force to save money by not heating most of the prison. The cells had some heating, but that was it. Ozpin shivered and walked up to a terminal, accessing the system and locating his target.

Inside his cell, Roman was impassive. For three years he had waited, enduring the shrieking weather and militaristic routines of the Wastes Incarceration Facility, but he had not been idle. The first thing he had done was ensure he ended up in solitary- he lashed out at others, driving them away from him and demonstrating that even without his cane and back-up, he was still plenty capable of killing. It hadn't taken the robotic guards to prise his hands from his victim's neck and throw him in a solitary cell. The next thing he had done was train. Before his imprisonment, he had the backing of the White Fang. Now he had himself and, providing he found her, Neo. He had to be able to handle himself, so he had gotten himself into the gym, ignored the incredulous looks he had been given and trained every day for the past few years. He was now stronger than he had ever been, and he felt it, the power now contained in his body. He grinned. Maybe today would be the day.

He had soon found a way to get a message out. Once he had done that, it was the waiting game. He sat up from his bed when he heard light footsteps approaching, the sound of heels on stone. Neo's mismatched eyes peered around the corner of his cell, a finger to the lips telling Roman all he needed to do- stay quiet. She pulled a robotic hand from her pocket and pressed it to the pad beside the cell, the electrical locks opening with a hiss. A siren heralded the opening of the cell, and Neo jumped onto Roman's back as he began to run. She pointed down a particular corridor, and Roman turned, shivering as he left the climate-controlled area- he would have to be fast, or he'd freeze in his prison jumpsuit. The prisoners were not given footwear of any kind, as it made clear to them that to escape the prison, they would have to cross the wastes barefoot and avoid thermal cameras with nothing more than a thin layer of fabric to protect them from the wind. Already, Roman could feel the cold setting in, and he almost ran right past the box Neo pointed to. He pulled it from the snow that had already gathered before heading back the way he came, entering the solitary block and opening the box. Inside were warm clothes, a pair of boots, a balaclava, and snow goggles and, to his great delight, the Melodic Cudgel.

"Neo my dear girl, is this all for me?"

She nodded enthusiastically, turning away while he changed quickly. Roman marvelled at the fit of the clothes before he sobered up, lifting his Cane and twirling around his gloved hands. Rhythmic footsteps were approaching fast, and Neo was brandishing her umbrella. She motioned for Roman to hurry up, and he picked her up and ran, following her directions to the exit of the prison.

When the sirens started blaring, Ozpin had made his way to the front of the prison, stepping outside as a legion of Knights dropped from the storm and entered the facility. Two Paladins trained their guns on the door. No gunfire was heard, and moments later, Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan emerged in a flash of light. They locked their eyes on him, and he smirked.

"Ah, how convenient."

Roman barely saw the shockwave before it hit him, forcing him backwards and pitching Neo forward. The girl landed in a crouch, deflecting the next barrage of shockwaves with her umbrella while ran forward, preparing to punch Ozpin in the face. The white-hairs man simply thrust an arm upward and the ground was blasted from underneath Roman, sending him face-first into the snow. He recovered quickly, running forward again but colliding with a large circle of runes.

 _Of course that bloody witch is here too._

A swift barrage of magic sent Roman reeling, and he was quickly pinned by several androids before he could return fire. He could only watch as the two Hunters closed in on Neo, rune circles closing her in and Ozpin preventing her escape.

"Neo! Run!"

She looked at him desperately, and in that brief moment of distraction, a pulse caught the side of her head, and she folded, falling into the snow. She was lifted up in a cube of force, Goodwitch carrying her away from him. He felt a needle slide into his neck, and he passed out as the sedative took hold.


End file.
